Corsair K65 RGB Mini Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

Corsair has decided to enter the 60% keyboard gold rush. In this review guide overview, the $109 Corsair K65 RGB mini mechanical keyboard is a compact version of the company’s K65 TKL concept. They produce a lightweight and portable mechanical keyboard. On the surface, the K65 seems to be a strong competitive 60 percent adaptation.

Although the keyboard is thin, the layout does not feel cramped, like some compact designs do. Around the same period, with global manufacturers releasing a slew of 60 and 65 percent keyboards this year, the K65 Mini lacks any distinguishing features or components. It’s a solid yet ultimately uninteresting choice in a crowded keyboard market.

Corsair K65 RGB Mini Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

Keys & Design

First and foremost, we can mention that the K65 Mini is a 60% keyboard. It has 61 buttons, which is slightly less than 60% of a full-size 104-key configuration. The number pad, feature lines, editing keys, and navigation keys are all removed to get there. It also eliminates the wide gaps between keys, resulting in a single block. Consequently, a mechanical keyboard measuring 1.78 by 11.53 by 4.00 inches has been made (HWD).

The K65 Mini does not rearrange the classic keyboard layout or reduce the size of the keys, unlike several 65 percent keyboards that jam five or so extra keys into the same room. This removes the mild, transient annoyance that comes from transitioning to a lightweight interface.

Almost every key has a secondary input, which is triggered with the FN key, to compensate for all the cut keys. These are used on 60 to 65 percent of keyboards, but Corsair went all out for its shortcuts. It also has an onboard profile period key, lighting settings, and buttons to guide the mouse cursor with the keyboard, in addition to the missing keys and media controls. Sidecaps identify the regular and special inputs on the inner edges of the keys. Since there are so many ways to understand, this is important.

Given this, it should come as no disappointment that the K65 is a fairly basic keyboard. It foregoes Corsair’s anodized aluminum top panel to favor a lighter, more compact base that lacks interchangeable feet. In addition, the K65 has a matte, double-shot keycaps that don’t do anything to the keyboard’s aesthetic appeal. It also has a detachable USB-C cable, which is quickly becoming the industry norm for smaller keyboards.

However, there is one eye-catching feature. The space key has a one-of-a-kind fractal architecture that allows RGB light to pass through. Though it doesn’t look like every other keycap I’ve seen, the idea of RGB light piercing the spacebar was already seen in the HyperX Alloy Origins 60.

The Corsair K65 Mini RGB has Cherry MX Red or MX Speed Silver buttons under the caps. Cherry’s fastest hair-trigger controls, Speed Silver, are included in my analysis machine. It seems like you can click them with your mind, with marginally less travel than Cherry Reds—1.2mm to actuation/3.4mm to the rim, vs. 2mm/4mm—and the same power. In reality, I find that mispressing keys is a little too fast and that the shorter travel isn’t as convenient as a complete 4mm bottom stage.

The K65 RGB Mini has a unique function, but it isn’t beneficial. It supports “hype rolling” at up to 8000Hz, bringing the keyboard’s input report rate to 0.125 milliseconds. Since most keyboards’ normal polling rate is 1000Hz, or 1ms, the higher setting potentially reduces the already imperceptible input latency caused by your keyboard.

It’s hard to determine the difference between the polling rates, in fact. Setting polling above the standard 1000Hz, as I’ve mentioned in other reviews, yields diminishing returns, particularly on keyboards where your inputs already appear instant. That isn’t to suggest it isn’t doing anything, but it’s difficult to call anything valuable because there isn’t much real gain. There isn’t a compelling excuse to have one keyboard over another.

Corsair K65 RGB Third Party Software

Third party software, iCue, is compatible with the Corsair K65 RGB Mini. Create keyboard profiles with remapped keys and custom macros, alter RGB illumination, and customize other settings with the newly redesigned iCue software. Thanks to a bigger, more visually-minded GUI, iCue is even simpler to interpret than ever.

Rather than getting a certain number of keyboard profile spaces, the number you will generate is determined by your changes in each profile. According to Corsair, you may build up to 50 profiles, although each one is likely to have just a few tweaked keys and no macros.

The 8000Hz hype rolling on the K65 RGB Mini is my only gripe with iCue and the keyboard. When you change the polling rate to 8000Hz, an alert appears, stating that such a high polling rate can only be used on “higher-end platforms.” Corsair doesn’t go into detail on what this entails.

According to Corsair, keyboard hype rolling isn’t as taxing on the machine as mouse hype rolling, and the language can be modified to alleviate the problem. Even if Corsair considers it appropriate to provide a message because of the possible effect on results, the organization can be more clear regarding device specifications and include suggested specs.

Originally posted 2021-11-11 12:56:41.